Archive: Arts & Entertainment

On the weekends of October 11th, 12th and October 18th and 19st, from 11am to 5pm travelers from all over the region will tour the Greater Ithaca Art Trail , now in its tenth season. The Greater Ithaca Art Trail gives art enthusiasts the opportunity to take a self guided tour of 49 artists' studios throughout Tompkins County. With over 5,000 visitors in 2007 from areas extending well beyond Tompkins County, the Art Trail grows with artists and visitors every year.

"There's no better time than during the fall, when the foliage is at its peak, to take a drive in the country or walk around downtown Ithaca with wonderful artists' studios as your destination. It's a great adventure," says Robin Schwartz, Program Director of the Community Arts Partnership, which coordinates the Art Trail. 54 artists will open their studio doors from 11am to 5pm on each of the four days, giving the public a chance to see each artist's creative space and witness not only the finished product, but also part of the artistic process.

"There's no better time than during the fall, when the foliage is at its peak, to take a drive in the country or walk around downtown Ithaca with wonderful artists' studios as your destination. It's a great adventure," says Robin Schwartz, Program Director of the Community Arts Partnership, which coordinates the Art Trail. 54 artists will open their studio doors from 11am to 5pm on each of the four days, giving the public a chance to see each artist's creative space and witness not only the finished product, but also part of the artistic process.

The artists themselves are a diverse lot and the quality of their work is impressive. Visitors will not only find painters working in all media, but also sculptors, printmakers, fiber artists, ceramists, jewelers, makers of fine furniture, collage artists, glass artists, mixed media artists, digital artists, a blacksmith and creators of decorative functional art. The Greater Ithaca Art Trail truly represents the wide spectrum of talented and versatile artists who call Tompkins County their home.

Momoko Takeshita Keane talks to visitors in her Ithaca Ceramics Studio

Sometimes the studio space is as much of an attraction as the art itself. John Lyon Paul's studio, set deep in the woods on Sodom Road, is a huge barn with three sections-one for sculpture, one for paintings (over 300 of them) and one museum quality display area. Eric Serritella shares what he learned during intense study in Taiwan, with a raku pot-firing demonstration and tea ceremony outside of his country studio in Newfield each Open Studio afternoon at 2pm. Mary Ann and Stan Bowman built a studio addition that may very well be bigger than their house. Once inside, visitors can see a myriad of Mary Ann's whimsical ceramic figures, and those interested in Stan's digital constructions can marvel at his high tech production studio.

Because Tompkins County is fortunate enough to have so many artists residing here, every year the artists on the Art Trail are different, as is the art work they present for the public. One 2007 visitor said "I had so much fun on Saturday and the artists were so terrific, I made sure to go [on the trail] again on Sunday. Then I had so much fun on Sunday, I went the next weekend as well!"

Brochures with a complete Greater Ithaca Art Trail map are available at Visitor Centers and tourist locations throughout Tompkins County, as well as the Community Arts Partnership office inside the Clinton House, 116 North Cayuga Street in Downtown Ithaca.

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